


When Silence Isn’t So Golden

by ladydragon76



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-24
Updated: 2011-05-24
Packaged: 2017-10-19 18:09:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/203786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydragon76/pseuds/ladydragon76
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>Summary:</b> Fill from joules_burn’s prompt here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Silence Isn’t So Golden

**Author's Note:**

> **‘Verse:** G1  
>  **Series:** None  
>  **Rating:** PG  
>  **Characters:** Skywarp, Starscream, Thundercracker, Ratchet  
>  **Warnings:** None  
>  **Notes:** Oh, Skywarp...

At first, Skywarp thought it was a dream come true. So did all the other Decepticons, and they all had a farking _blast_ messing with Starscream over it. Even Thundercracker took a few shots at the trine leader’s expense.

Oh, sure. Starscream was _really_ good about being able to tell a mech to go frag himself with just a glare, but it wasn’t the same as that screech of his. There was nothing Hook could do about it. And Starscream’s vocalizer was just too damaged for his own self repair to fix.

Megatron, of all the Decepticons, was overjoyed.

“Oh? Nothing to add, Starscream?”

“Come now, Starscream, you’ve never been shy about expressing your opinion before.”

“I’ll rip your wings off and mount them to my wall if you don’t stop rolling your optics at me!” This bellowed, but with a gleeful, _hopeful_ , if still very malevolent smile on Megatron’s face.

But then Skywarp began to notice something. It stopped being fun to tease Starscream. Rumble and Frenzy held out the longest, but even they eventually got bored of it. Starscream also stopped reacting. It _was_ boring. And that boredom allowed Skywarp to notice something he probably wouldn’t have otherwise noticed.

They were losing.

Badly.

He went to Thundercracker with his findings. Always best to have Thundercracker hear out his more serious thoughts before he shared them with anyone else. Just in case he was wrong. But he really didn’t think he was this time.

“No, Warp. I think you’re right. Screamer can’t argue with Megatron. He can’t poke holes in all Megatron’s plans, so Megatron just does them anyway.”

Skywarp eyed his trine mate. Thundercracker was saying something deep there. Like Megatron wasn’t right. Or that he made bad plans. Maybe even both.

“So… We need to get Screamer back his scream so he can be a jerkface for Megatron, so we can win battles and kick Autobutt, and have extra energon for high grade again?”

Thundercracker blinked, then gave Skywarp a slow nod.

Skywarp _beamed_. “I have an idea!” 

Thundercracker’s optics had gone wide. Probably in awe of Skywarp’s sheer genius, but Skywarp was already teleporting away. Off to the surface and over to that volcano the Autobutts lived under.

Weird aft, ground pounding, dirt kissers.

And so he waited, huddled down behind a large boulder, his wings tucked in uncomfortable and tight against his back, but it was necessary. He couldn’t let them see him until he saw his prey. He’d go in their base, but who the frag knew how many corridors and turns and things they’d dug. Plus Skywarp really didn’t like the idea of walking around under a mountain. What if it fell on his head?

He had been waiting some time, ignoring Thundercracker’s comm calls, when he finally spotted the mech he was after. Skywarp readied himself, then teleported just behind Ratchet, wrapping his arms around the medic’s middle and teleporting away just as fast. He couldn’t risk taking Ratchet back to base. Megatron would want to use him to force Prime to surrender or something, and Skywarp needed him to fix Starscream’s vocalizer so he could yell and screech at Megatron, and make his plans better again so they could defeat the Autobots.

Skywarp took them to a smallish meadow half way through what the squishies called Mexico, then opened a comm to Thundercracker. //Ok! I got him. Bring Screamer, and we’ll get his voice fixed. Oh wait…// “Hey, Ratchet, you can fix vocalizers right?”

“Are you _crazy_?! The fragging _Pit_ did you bring me here for?!”

Skywarp heaved a sigh, and shook his head, temporarily ignoring Thundercracker’s flipping the slag out, and repeated, “Vocalizers. Can you repair them?”

Ratchet blinked, going somewhat still. “Sometimes. It honestly depends what the damage is.”

Skywarp smiled, happy the Autobot was finally cluing in. //Hey, TC! He says he can probably fix it, so just bring Screamer here.// He transmitted his coordinates. //I’ll be waiting!//

Skywarp cut the comm, then looked around for a place to sit. “May as well get comfortable. It’ll be a little bit until they get here.”

It was a fragging long, _boring_ time before Thundercracker and Starscream finally decided to show up.

Starscream had his bitchface on, and Thundercracker looked like he wanted to shoot someone. Skywarp shook his head. He was stuck with such temperamental trine mates, he really was.

“Ok, Ratchet,” Skywarp called out, the medic having ducked back as Thundercracker and Starscream arrived. “Fix him.” He pointed at Starscream, then stepped forward to drag his trine leader over closer to the Autobot. “Then I’ll even take you back to your base.”

Starscream started gesturing, Ratchet started talking about trust and other Autobot slag, and Thundercracker launched into some stupid lecture that Skywarp just went ahead and tuned out. “So fix him already,” he said.

All three of them went silent and still, well, Starscream just still since he was already silent, but yeah. Anyway, they all shut up, so Skywarp huffed, and repeated himself. Primus! And they called _him_ the stupid one!

Well, it was an adventure. Starscream wouldn’t quit twitching, and Ratchet kept threatening him with dents and worse if he didn’t ‘sit the fragging slag still al-frelling-ready’, and Thundercracker was just sort of there. He sat on the ground and watched, sometimes glancing up at Skywarp, who just gave him a proud and smug little smile, then turned back to watching Ratchet work himself.

It was getting dark by the time Ratchet sighed, and sat back, saying, “There. That’s really all I can do here. If we were in my medbay, I could probably fix all the damage, even those old scars, but not out here.”

Skywarp popped up to his feet. “Aw, that’s ok. I mean he’s not really Screamer if he’s not all screechy and stuff.” Starscream gave him a wide-opticked look that Skywarp could only assume was gratitude. “When can he talk again?”

“A couple days,” Ratchet said, looking down at Starscream. “Keep it offline if you have to, but don’t talk or make any other sounds for forty-eight hours. Got it?”

Starscream nodded, and Skywarp bounced over, hugging the medic exuberantly. “Thanks! Lemme take you home now!”

He did so instantly, setting Ratchet on his feet in the exact same spot he’d taken him from. “See ya!” he called, waving to the other Autobots that came rushing out, then teleported back to his trine mates.

It was three days later that they all sat in the war room again, Megatron going on about his next great plan. Skywarp just smiled happily over at Thundercracker, who was shrunk kind of low in his seat like he wanted to hide under the table or something.

Then came the inevitable, “And what have you to add, Starscream?”

Skywarp shivered in happiness as his trine leader launched into an acerbic bitchfest of how slagged up, stupid, bound-for-failure, and moronic Megatron’s plan was. He also threw in a heavy dose of the whole ‘when _I_ rule the Decepticons’ rant, and even Megatron looked a little happy.

Starscream ended up back in Hook’s repair bay that afternoon, but two days later they raided the squishies’ power plant, then trounced the Autobutts, and got away with more than enough energon to make high grade with.

Skywarp sat proudly at his table, chair leaning back on two legs, his trine mates sipping their high grade with their feet all propped up on the table as well.

“Good work, Warp,” Starscream rasped, and Thundercracker grinned at Skywarp, lifting his cube in a little toast.

Skywarp grinned, chuckling. “Yeah. I know.”


End file.
